Automatic milking

Abstract

An arrangement for the automatic application of milking apparatus to a milk animal including a milking apparatus store, a milking apparatus handling device including a milking apparatus carrier movable on the device and a teat sensor on the handling device together with at least one animal position sensor and a control unit responsive to the animal and teat sensor to operate the handling device, the arrangement being such that when an animal is sensed to be in milking position the control unit operates the handling device to take milking apparatus for a teat of the animal from the store in the carrier to a specific teat with the carrier moved to a sideways offset at a selected angle to the device and the teat sensor in range of the teat.

We claim: 
     
       1. An arrangement for the automatic application of milking apparatus to an animal comprising: a milking apparatus store,   a milking apparatus handling device including a milking apparatus carrier movable on the device, and   said handling device further including a guided elongate support member having pivoted at an outward end said carrier in the form of a teat-cup gripper, the axis of the pivot for the gripper being inclined at an angle to the elongate member but generally in the horizontal plane of the member, and   a teat sensor on the handling device together with at least one animal position sensor and a control unit responsive to the animal and teat sensor to operate the handling device,   the arrangement being such that when an animal is sensed to be in milking position the control unit operates the handling device to take milking apparatus for a teat of the animal from the store in the carrier to a specific teat with the carrier moved to a sideways offset at a selected angle to the device and the teat sensor in range of the teat.   
     
     
       2. An arrangement according to claim 1 characterised in that the carrier is movable to turn a milking apparatus taken inverted to be upright. 
     
     
       3. An arrangement according to claim 1 characterised in that the teat sensor is an open-jaw sensor effective to sense the teat by a sideways approach. 
     
     
       4. An arrangement according to claim 1 in which said handling device includes a pivot and said carrier is movable about said pivot between an inverted and an upright position and operable to acquire inverted milking apparatus from said store and in which said carrier is effective by a single pivot action both to turn the acquired inverted apparatus upright and to position the upright apparatus offset from the handling device. 
     
     
       5. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the angle is approximately 45°. 
     
     
       6. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the support member has at an inboard end a drive for said carrier and a drive shaft within the member to transmit drive to said carrier. 
     
     
       7. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the milking apparatus is individual teat cups each on a respective milk hose and hung inverted in a store by the milk hose alone and after release retractable into said store by pulling with the milk hose. 
     
     
       8. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the milking apparatus is individual teat cups each on a respective milk hose and held in a store to be above the level of the floor of a rear part of a stall at the milking position and beneath a raised front part of the stall. 
     
     
       9. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the handling device includes a teat sensor of an open-jaw sensing arrangement having optical sensing beams directed to cross obliquely. 
     
     
       10. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the carrier includes an open-jaw sensing arrangement arranged above the gripper, with reference to the upright position, and including optical sensing beams directed to cross obliquely, effective to operate by sideways approach to a teat with the sensor above the lower end of the teat and the milking apparatus below said lower end. 
     
     
       11. An arrangement according to claim 1 in which the milking apparatus is held and cleansed in the store in the inverted position to allow drainage. 
     
     
       12. An arrangement according to claim 1 for installation at one side of a stall for an animal to be milked, said store being at the opposite side of said stall, and in which said handling device is operable to extend under an animal in said stall to acquire apparatus from said store and retract and move rearwardly, that is in the head to tall direction, of an animal in said stall for application of said acquired apparatus to said animal.